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IMC-USA Weekly News Digest - January 25th, 2010

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Communal Harmony

News Headlines

Opinions & Editorials

Communal Harmony

Imam ensured Hindu-Muslim harmony in jail (Jan 19, 2010, Times of India)

Imam Gulam Yahya Illahi Bakhsh, acquitted of all terror charges in
the first case handled by the state anti-terrorism squad, did not sit
idle during the four years he spent in prison as an undertrial. It was
he who ensured that there was no fight among the Hindus and Muslims
there, especially when members of the two communities would offer their
daily prayers. Bakhsh was released from jail on Sunday afternoon, a
little more than four years after he entered prison (on January 13,
2006), after a Sewree fast-track court acquitted him of terror charges.

"When I was taken to jail, they first kept me in an isolated
cell called 'anda' cell meant for hardened criminals and terrorists.
Later, they shifted me to a barrack where most of the inmates were
accused of murder. There were Hindus, Muslims and Christians in the
barrack. But there was some problem as the timings for Hindu prayers
and the namaz clashed," he recounted. "When I requested my Hindu
brothers to time their prayers just before or after the namaz, they
readily agreed. Everything went off smoothly after that," he added.

"Even
in the cell, I continued leading namaz. I was happy that I was an imam
even though I was in jail," said Bakhsh, who has been leading namaz at
various mosques in the city for around 24 years. According to Bakhsh,
he got a lot of emotional support from Hindu inmates during his days in
prison. "There were times when I was completely shattered but several
Hindu inmates would sit next to me and console me. They said I would be
released if I had not done anything wrong," a tearful Bakhsh said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5475030.cms

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Muslims novel gesture to padayatris going to Palani (Jan 22, 2010, The Hindu)

To stress communal harmony and ensure safe journey of padyatris,
members of the Muslim Community in Periakulam offered reflector sticks
and pamphlets containing road safety measures to pilgrims going to Sri
Dhandayuthapaniswamy Temple in Palani for Thai Poosam festival.

Launching
the distribution of sticks at a function held in Periakulam near here
on Thursday, Superintendent of Police R. Balakrishnan advised
padayatris to follow road rules strictly for a safe journey. Walking on
the sides of the road would be very safe. The reflector sticks would
alert vehicle drivers about the movement of pilgrims on road sides.

Already,
the police department had already distributed reflector sticks to
Sabarimala pilgrims also. The distribution of sticks by Muslim
community would strengthen communal harmony and brotherhood among
Hindus and Muslims, he added. Members of Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra
Kazhagam took part and distributed sticks.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/22/stories/2010012257150300.htm

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News Headlines

Gujarat riots probe inches closer to Modi (Jan 20, 2010, Times of India)

Nearly eight years after the post-Godhra communal mayhem in Gujarat,
the probe by a Supreme Court-constituted Special Investigation Team
(SIT) into nine most gruesome riot cases appears to be moving closer to
investigating the actions of chief minister Narendra Modi during the
period of violence. On Tuesday, SIT complained to a Bench comprising
Justices D K Jain, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam that the Gujarat
government had stonewalled its request for copies of speeches that Modi
made in the immediate aftermath of the riots, along with other
documents.

The Bench directed the state government to
immediately supply the SIT, headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan,
with copies of speeches as well as other documents to facilitate the
probe. The Supreme Court on Tuesday intervened on behalf of the SIT
probing the post-Godhra riots with the Gujarat government. "If SIT
thinks Modi's speeches were relevant for the purpose of the probe, why
wouldn't you give those to it?" the court asked. Importantly, the court
also agreed to examine a plea, supported by the Centre, to reconstitute
SIT on the ground that it had not been discharging its brief
satisfactorily.

It was last year that the SC asked SIT to also
probe a complaint by Jakia Nasim Ahesan Hussain Jafri, widow of former
Congress MP Ahsan Jafri who was killed by a mob at Gulbarg Society,
alleging that the communal riot was allowed to go on in the state with
the CM, cabinet ministers, police and bureaucracy abdicating their
constitutional duty to protect life and property of citizens
irrespective of their caste and religion. Apart from accusing Modi and
62 others, including the collectors and SPs of every riot-affected
district of grave dereliction of duty, Jafri had alleged that there had
been "deliberate attempts to scuttle most of the cases".

Citing
extracts of affidavits given by senior police officials, she alleged
that the administration was deliberately lethargic in controlling the
rampaging mobs. Jafri had also alleged that terror reigned in the state
even now and key witnesses were being coerced into silence. The bench
also agreed to look into an application by one Devendrabhai Pathak
seeking reconstitution of SIT, alleging that the SC's crack team was
ignoring vital evidence.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5478452.cms

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Ansari calls for more openness, accountability in intelligence agencies (Jan 19, 2010, New Kerala)

Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari Wednesday called for greater
"oversight and accountability" in the operations of the country's
intelligence agencies, and suggested a standing committee of parliament
on intelligence be set up, like other such committees, to meet the
needs of good governance in a democratic society. Delivering the Fourth
R.N. Kao Memorial Lecture organised by the Resarch and Intelligence
Wing (RAW) of the Cabinet Secretariat, Ansari said although ministerial
responsibility to the legislature, and in turn to the electorate, was
an essential element of democratic governance, exceptions to it
pertained to the "intelligence and security structure of the state".
This had only executive and political oversight.

He said the
present system, though accepted for so long, did not "meet the
requirements of good governance in an open society" and concerns have
been raised over the scope and extent of the political executive's
supervision as also the possibility of misuse of these services. "The
shortcomings of the traditional argument, of leaving intelligence to
the oversight of the executive, became evident in the Report of the
Kargil Review Committee" that went into the intelligence debacle before
the Kargil invasion by Pakistani Army soldiers, Ansari said. He said
given the international models of "calibrated openness to ensure
oversight and accountability" in advanced democratic societies, "there
is no reason why a democratic system like ours should not have a
Standing Committee on Intelligence that could function on the pattern
of other Standing Committees (in parliament)".

Since internal
and external intelligence in the Indian system did not report to the
same minister, the possibility of entrusting this work to the Standing
Committee on Home Affairs may not meet the requirement, the vice
president said, throwing open to debate an issue that is likely to find
greater resonance in the political and strategic community in the
coming months. Ansari also said that, just like in other democracies
like the US and the UK, the "concerned agencies should make public
their mission statement, outlining periodically their strategic intent,
vision, mission, core values and their goals".

And, in step
with the globalised information architecture, "there is a case for
greater openness with regard to the history of intelligence
institutions", Ansari said. He said the contention that openness and
public discussion would compromise the secrecy essential for
intelligence needed to re-examined. While operational secrecy was
essential in the functioning of the intelligence services and needed to
be maintained, it was necessary that these services have "financial and
performance accountability" and the proposed Standing Committee "could
fill this void".

"It could also function as a surrogate for
public opinion and thus facilitate wider acceptance of the imperatives
of a situation," he said. Kao, considered the 'guru' of the Indian
intelligence community, founded the RAW, the country's external
intelligence agency. He was close to then prime minister Indira Gandhi
and was described by a British newspaper after his death in 2002 as a
philosopher-spymaster. The Indian intelligence community honours his
memory with a lecture every year.

http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-34011.html

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Still dont know why was I picked up: Haj House Imam (Jan 19, 2010, Indian Express)

For 47-year-old Maulana Ghulam Ilahi Baksh Yahya, "there is nothing
more punishing than the forced loneliness". Arrested in January 13,
2006, by the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) for harbouring and financially
assisting three militants, he was acquitted of all charges by the Sewri
Fast Track court on Saturday. The Haj House Imam speaks with guarded
words as he narrates his life in jail during the last four years.
Sitting at Musafirkhana's office of Mumbai Aman Committee, he says, "I
still don't understand why was I picked up."

Ghulam recalls the
evening when he was called by the ATS officials at the Nagapda office.
He says after interrogating and making him hear the transcripts inwhich
his voice was abundantly clear and verified, he was pronounced
arrested. They even made me sign on some papers and a senior ATS
official was dressed in kurta and lungi while interrogating me, says
Ghulam, a standard VII dropout.

Days in the Arthur Road Jail
were the toughest, he says. Initially, he was lodged in the Anda cell.
"Imagine a barrack where it is just you and no one else for months. In
an adjoining cell, there was a Hindu youth named Santosh. But we were
too far to talk to each other. I craved for somebody's company." After
submitting several appeals, the jail authorities finally shifted him to
barrack number 11 that housed many murder convicts. "But it brought
some peace to me. At least there were some human beings."

Many
of his acqaintances had arrived at the Aman Committee's office to
express their solidarity. "When a cleric gets a criminal's tag, it's a
very uncomfortable feeling," says a visitor. "It is a great relief that
the court has pronounced him not guilty. The community was shocked. It
seemed like a vendetta to defame the community as they did not cover
his face," says Farid Shaikh, president of the Mumbai Aman Committee.

As
reporters thronged to interview Ghulam, his anecdotes gave everybody a
fair idea of the world inside a prison. With one tubelight, one fan, a
common television and two newspapers, the world inside can be described
as the "best school for practising patience", he says. Ghulam also
recounts the last days of confinement with ex-IPS officer Saji Mohan
who was arrested in a narcotics case. We exchanged words and thoughts
in jail, he says. This week Ghulam will be officially meeting the Haj
committee.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/568914/

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CBI to file fresh FIR in Sohrab case (Jan 17, 2010, Times of India)

A fresh complaint will soon be filed by the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake
encounter case. This development follows the Supreme Court (SC) handing
over investigations in this controversial case to the CBI. Sheikh was
gunned down on the outskirts of Ahmedabad by a joint team of Rajasthan
police and Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Gujarat.

Hand-over of
investigation in this case after CID had filed a chargesheet and
arrested 13 police officials including 3 IPS officers has, however,
sparked off a legal debate in the pro-Gujarat government lobby. "How
can CBI be given the probe at this critical stage when CID has already
filed chargesheet?" some ask. This is the first such case where SC has
intervened after chargesheet was filed in a case.

In 2008, the
Gujarat government in its first affidavit had accepted that Sohrabuddin
was killed in a fake encounter. However, the state government had made
no move to lodge a fresh FIR and instead chosen to continue the police
complaint lodged by ATS, Gujarat, on November 25, 2005. CID officials
had probed the same complaint and arrested 13 police officials
including three IPS officers.

"The CBI cannot get a fresh
remand of the accused like IPS officer DG Vanzara on basis of the old
complaint, since all legal procedures have been completed in this
connection. For this reason, the CBI will need to lodge a new FIR so
that all the accused can be taken on remand and probe can begin anew,"
said sources in the Gujarat police. The CBI officials will in this
manner try to track down motive behind the encounter and also the real
mastermind. Now, the case will also be heard at the CBI court in
Mirzapur. Till date, it was heard at the sessions court in Bhadra.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5454693.cms

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No relief for Rathore from High Court (Jan 18, 2010, Deccan Herald)

Former director general of Haryana Police, S P S Rathore, convicted
of molestation, failed to get any relief from the Punjab and Haryana
High Court on his anticipatory bail plea on Monday as the court fixed
the next date of hearing on January 25.

Earlier, the CBI
counsel opposed the anticipatory bail plea of Rathore arguing that
there was possibility of tampering of evidence and intimidation of
witnesses as Rathore had held high positions in the state. He contended
that the investigations by the CBI were in the initial stage and
granting anticipatory bail to Rathore at this stage could hamper the
probe.

Rathore had moved the high court after a Panchkula court
had dismissed his anticipatory bail plea on January 8. Court asked the
CBI to file its reply to the third FIR pertaining to abetment of
suicide charge against Rathore under section 306 of the IPC on January
25.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/47436/no-relief-rathore-high-court.html

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Godse was inspired by BJP ideology: Kaul Singh (Jan 18, 2010, The Tribune)

History once again came to haunt political leaders. This time state
Congress president Kaul Singh quoted from history and dragged the
murder of Mahatma Gandhi into controversy. HPCC president Kaul Singh,
while addressing a political rally, said the BJP was a communal party.
Nathu Ram Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, was inspired by the BJP
ideology, he alleged. He further alleged that the BJP was also hand in
glove with the SAD that caused communal divide in Punjab and pushed the
state into dark age of terrorism.

On the other hand, the
Congress implemented the Land Ceiling Act. It was the Congress that
created Himachal Pradesh. The BJP was in favour of joint Punjab, he
added. Speaking on factionalism in the BJP, Kaul Singh alleged that
Chief Minister PK Dhumal forced Shanta Kumar out of the Union Cabinet
during his last stint. He claimed that the present UPA government was
giving liberal projects to Himachal. Projects like central university,
IIT in Mandi and NIFT in Kangra have been sanctioned by the UPA
government, he added.

He was speaking at a rally organised by
the Youth Congress at Indora today. KPS Rana, while speaking on the
occasion, said the Congress had the history of fighting for freedom
struggle of the country whereas the BJP had no such history. Amarinder
Singh Brar, general secretary, Indian Youth Congress, said the Congress
was the only party that cared for poor in the country. "The party has
empowered people of the country by implementing schemes such as the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Right to
Information (RTI)."

Manmohan Katoch, while speaking on the
occasion, alleged that senior Congress leaders from the area were not
opposing the BJP government vehemently. Katoch brought the warring
factions of the Congress, including groups led by AICC member Vikram
Katoch and former MLA Bodh Raj, on a single platform for the first time
today. Factionalism was so rife in the area that the Congress failed to
put up a candidate from Indora in the last Assembly elections. Asha
Kumari, while speaking on the occasion, said the Congress had
strengthened under the present HPCC president Kaul Singh.

Chander
Kumar, former MP and HPCC general secretary, alleged that the present
government was trying to dilute the provisions of Section 118 of the
Land Tenancy Act. The former MP, however, got drubbing from a local
resident for taking up the issue of Indora in Parliament. The local
said he did not vote in the last elections due to his working. The
candid statement of common man left Congress leaders red-faced.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100118/himachal.htm#7

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Violence breaks out in one deemed university in TN (Jan 19, 2010, Hindustan Times)

Violence broke out on Tuesday in one of the 17 educational
institutions in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry set to lose their deemed
university status, as panic gripped about 50,000 students studying in
these colleges. With the Centre deciding to strip 44 educational
institutions countrywide of their deemed university status, the
managements of some of such universities in Tamil Nadu - some of them
which are just a year old - are planning to move the court. Students of
Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, near Chennai,
damaged computers and boycotted classes, after their institution
figured in the list.

As estimated 50,000 students are studying in
16 deemed universities in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry, mostly run
by politicians. Bharat University, for example, is run by the children
of Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting S
Jagatratshagan. "We would implead ourselves in the case", said Ishari K
Ganesh, son of late Isari Velan, who was a Parliamentary Secretary
during late MGR government and Chancellor of Vel's University.

The
institutions were neither served any show cause notice nor were given
any time to rectify alleged discrepancies, he said. "Most of the
universities are just about a year old and were given deemed university
status after inspection of facilities and infrastructure by University
Grants Commission panel," he said. AIADMK MP M Thambidurai, patron of
St. Peter's Institute of Higher Education Chennai, refused to comment
on the institution figuring in the blacklist claiming he did not run
any college.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/499421.aspx

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45 injured as violence breaks out at Osmania University (Jan 20, 2010, Indian Express)

Violence broke out at the Osmania University campus in Hyderabad
when police stopped students from staging a march with the body of a
youth who committed suicide by immolating himself apparently due to
delay in formation of a separate Telangana state. Police said at least
30 students and 15 policemen, including Kachiguda ACP K Ramchander,
were injured as the premises turned into a battlefield with students
throwing stones and torching police vehicles.

Police burst
teargas shells and fired rubber bullets and used water cannons to
disperse them. Some mediapersons were also hurt during the clashes. The
violence broke out over shifting the body of K Venugopal Reddy, a
23-year-old final-year MCA student who set himself ablaze yesterday at
the university, which has been a focal point for the youth demanding
Telangana.

The students planned to take out Venugopal's body in
a procession towards Gun Park near Andhra Pradesh state assembly from
the Arts College premises where the body was kept since yesterday.
Hundreds of students gathered at the Arts College premises to pay their
respects to Venugopal. But police stopped them from taking out any
procession saying it may aggravate the situation in view of the bandh
being already observed in the city in support of Telangana.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/569622/

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Include all Muslims in BPL, then exclude the well-off (Jan 19, 2010, Indian Express)

In a move that could stir the political pot, the Rural Development
Ministry, under Congress leader C P Joshi, has proposed "automatic
inclusion" of Muslims in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list of families
along with Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). Aware of
the political sensitivities involved, the Ministry plans to replace the
word "Muslim" with "Minority" to pre-empt opposition, especially from
BJP-ruled states. Inaugurating a conference of Social Editors, Rural
Development Minister Joshi said that to simplify the process and ensure
that vulnerable sections are not left out from the BPL list, his
department favoured automatic "inclusion" and "exclusion".

It
has been proposed, he said, that SCs, STs and minorities be
automatically included in the BPL list and then well-off families
excluded on basis of Income Tax returns, land records etc. And certain
categories will be "automatically" excluded from the BPL list: families
with double of a district's average irrigated land, those with a four
or three-wheel motor vehicle or mechanized farm equipment, a government
or private sector employee earning a salary above Rs 10,000 per month.
Joshi justified automatic inclusion citing that "SCs, STs and
Minorities together form less than 37% of the population" - less than
the BPL population pegged by the S C Saxena and Suresh Tendulkar
committee reports released recently.

"There is a feeling that
vulnerable sections are being excluded from the BPL list due to
competitive politics. We are trying to address the problem", Joshi
said. He, however, said that his Ministry was waiting for the NSSO
survey to decide the mode to be adopted for the new BPL survey. Joshi's
proposal goes beyond what the Saxena committee report - it was
appointed by the Rural Development Ministry - recommended. While it
said that weightage should be given to certain social groups, including
Muslims, it did not favour automatic inclusion. According to the Saxena
report, SCs/STs would get three points and Most Backward Castes (MBC)
two points. The Saxena report said that Muslims and OBCs be given one
point each.

Automatic inclusion of Muslims in the BPL list
could be the first major attempt by the Congress-led UPA government to
woo the vote bank that roughly constitutes 18% of the country's
population. The decision could be significant given that Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar go to state polls in 2012 and 2010 respectively, states where
the Congress is desperately trying to get a foothold. Inclusion and
exclusion from the BPL list is a big issue in villages, particularly in
the Hindi heartland, since benefits of most Central and state-sponsored
welfare schemes like Indira Awas Yojna, old age pension are decided on
the basis of the list.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/569084/

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SC/ST woman to retain tag after marriage (Jan 23, 2010, Times of India)

The Bombay high court on Friday held that a woman belonging to the
SC/ST category by birth would retain her caste even after marrying a
man who was from an upper caste. The bench of Justices B H Marlapalle,
Abhay Oka and R Y Ganoo said that a woman would not lose her caste by
marriage and it did not change to that of her husband's. In fact, as
ruled by a Constitution bench of the SC.

"Caste is acquired by
birth and does not undergo a change by virtue of marriage or even
adoption." The apex court had also laid down that a woman from a
general category married to a SC/ST man would also not automatically
gain voluntary mobility into the backward caste.

The ruling
came in a case of where a man and his family members were seeking
protection from arrest last year in a criminal case filed against them
under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for abusing his SC
wife.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5490504.cms

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Opinions and Editorials

Violating the rule of law - By N.H. Hingorani (Jan 17, 2010, The Tribune)

The shocking Ruchika Girhotra's case is yet another instance where
outraged public sentiment has compelled our politicians to come out of
their slumber and do damage control. The latest step is the
registration of three fresh FIRs against Haryana's disgraced
Director-General of Police S.P.S. Rathore for offences under the Indian
Penal Code, including the offence of implicating Ruchika's brother,
Ashu, in false cases so as to pressurise Ruchika into withdrawing her
molestation complaint and the offence of abetting her suicide. Rathore
and his wife-cum-counsel Abha Rathore are attributing the filing of the
fresh FIRs to a smear campaign by the media, pointing out that the
Supreme Court has already settled both issues in their favour. It is
pointed out by the Rathores that while one Bench of the Supreme Court
had quashed the directions given by the Punjab and Haryana High Court
to the District and Sessions Judge, Patiala, to probe the allegations
made by Ashu, another Bench of the apex court had affirmed the view
taken by the High Court that no case against Rathore can be made out
for charging him for abetment to suicide. The Rathores argue that the
filing of the fresh FIRs as such is not permissible in law. But then,
are the Rathores legally right in taking such stand? Let us summarise
the facts: "After a 19-year-long trial, Special CBI Magistrate J. S.
Sidhu convicted Rathore on December 21, 2009 for molesting 14-year-old
Ruchika Girhotra under Section 354 IPC and sentenced him to six months
rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1000.

The incident
occurred in 1990. Ruchika (14) and her friend Aradhana (13), both
budding tennis players, were summoned by Rathore to his
office-cum-residence. Rathore was also the Chairman of the Haryana Lawn
Tennis Association (HLTS) at that time. On August 12, 1990, Ruchika and
Aradhana went to Rathore's office. He directed Aradhana to go to call
the coach. On her return, Aradhana saw Rathore molesting Ruchika. On
seeing Aradhana, Rathore let go Ruchika from his embrace. Ruchika ran
out of the room and Rathore told Aradhana to talk to her friend not to
talk about the incident.On August 14, 1990, Ruchika and Aradhana
decided to tell about what had happened to their parents. Ruchika, who
had lost her mother, confided in Aradhana's mother. On August 15, 1990,
the families of Ruchika and Aradhana along with the parents of other
trainees of the HLTA handed over a written complaint to Home Secretary
J. S. Duggal. The then Chief Minister marked it to the then
Director-General of Police R. R. Singh. On August 25, 1990, 45-50
goondas raising slogans against Ruchika, smashed the window panes of
her house. On September 3, 1990, DGP R. R. Singh found the allegation
of molestation against Rathore in the complaint to be true and
recommended registration of the complaint and investigation by the CID.
On the heels of the registration of the complaint against Rathore, the
Sacred Heart School expelled Ruchika from school ostensibly for
non-payment of school fee in time, though this was the first instance
in the institution where a student was expelled on this ground. That
too, when no such action was taken for 135 other students who had not
paid their fees, some of whom had dues far more than
Ruchika's.Ironically, Rathore's daughter, who studied in the same
school, was in this list of 135 students as well. The school principal,
Sister Sebastina issued verbal instructions to expel Ruchika from the
school without even notice to her parents. This undeserved blot on her
school career lowered Ruchika's self-esteem at the young impressionable
age of 14 years and shattered her self-confidence.

Aradhana's
family was not spared either. Her father, Anand Prakash, was a Chief
Engineer in the Haryana Agricultural Marketing Board had a spotless
record. Soon after the complaint filed by Aradhana's mother on behalf
of Ruchika against Rathore for molesting her, 12 charge-sheets were
filed against Anand Prakash. The pressure tactics started on July 17,
1991, when a charge-sheet for major penalty was slapped on him with
another on July 19, 1991 and the rest followed. Of the 11 charge-sheets
filed against Anand Prakash, most were dropped and in others exonerated
except the one in which he got a warning. Anand Prakash took premature
retirement in 2000. Soon after the state government's decision in 1992
to register an FIR against Rathore, the police within his
administrative jurisdiction filed first of 11 auto theft cases against
Ashu (then 14 years old) on August 12, 1992. On October 23, 1993, Ashu
was arrested and kept in illegal custody for two months and subjected
to inhuman torture at Rathore's instance. On Diwali day, Ashu was
brought out of Sector 6 Police Post, Panchkula (Chandigarh),
hand-cuffed and paraded half-naked through the lane where he stayed.
The police asked his father and sister to come out to see him in that
state. Unable to see the sufferings of her family, Ruchika committed
suicide on December 28, 1993. It was several years later that Ashu was
exonerated of all the charges in April 1997, with the court having "no
hesitation to pinpoint that nothing is on record to prima facie indict
the accused" and that charges against him are "just waste papers." With
Ruchika committing suicide on December 28, 1993, Rathore swung into
action by overseeing the post mortem, reducing her father to helplessly
plead before the police to at least hand over her dead body. The post
mortem report was tampered with to change Ruchika's name and to
attribute the cause of her death due to overdose of slimming pills.

A
case was sought to be made out by Rathore that Ruchika committed
suicide because she was depressed by her father's relations with Veena,
her nanny. Meanwhile, Rathore who is said to enjoy immense political
influence, did not only stall any punitive action him under successive
regimes but managed to have the departmental enquiry against him closed
and to get promotions. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had taken suo
motu notice on December 8, 2000 of a press report which had highlighted
the harassment meted out to Ashu, Ruchika's brother. The High Court had
observed that "it seems the police officers posted at the Police
Station, Panchkula, were let loose on Ashu by Rathore, a senior IPS
officer of Haryana cadre to pressurise Ashu's sister to withdraw the
complaint lodged by her against him for the offence under Section 354
IPC". The High Court remitted the case to the District and Sessions
Judge, Patiala, to probe Ashu's allegation. On appeal to the Supreme
Court by Rathore, the apex court stayed the High Court's probe order.
In May 2005, the Supreme Court quashed the High Court probe order.
Noting the harassment of Ashu referred to in the years 1993 to 1996,
the period between Ruchika, molestation case and her suicide on
December 28, 1993 in his affidavit, the Court wondered why Ashu filed
his affidavit so late, while observing that Ashu was not illiterate and
that no "other factor" was brought to its notice which compelled him to
remain silent. As regards the offence of the abetment to suicide, the
Special CBI Judge, by his judgement dated October 23, 2007, had added
the charge of abetment to suicide against Rathore under Section 306
IPC, taking into consideration the continuous alleged harassment of
Ruchika as well as her family members.

Rathore's revision
application against the order dated October 2, 2001 in the Punjab and
Haryana High Court was allowed in view of the CBI's surprising stand
supporting Rathore. The appeal preferred by Aradhana's mother, Madhu
Prakash, was dismissed by the Supreme Court." If we assume the
aforesaid facts and judicial proceedings have been accurately reported
by the media, we are left with numbing allegations of the sickening rot
in our entire polity ranging from the police to the legal system to the
bureaucrats to the politicians to the education system. The effect of
such misuse of power by all concerned has resulted in the flagrant
violation of the fundamental rights of Ruchika, her brother as also of
Aradhana's father. … Since the charge of abetment of suicide against
Rathore was struck down by the High Court, Rathore has not even been
prosecuted, let alone punished, for the offence of abetment to suicide.
It follows that the fresh FIRs now lodged against Rathore are
permissible in law. However, if the system is to be cleansed, it is
crucial to look beyond Rathore and consider how every person or
institution that allowed or condoned this shameful state of affairs can
be brought to book. In the context of the Ruchika molestation case, the
need for fixing accountability on our institutions has become far
greater today than earlier because these institutions, at least
ostensibly, swear by the rule of law.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100117/edit.htm#1

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One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest - By Ajit Sahi and Rana Ayyub (Jan 16, 2010, Tehelka)

About 11 years ago, on February 24, 1999, the Maharashtra government
promulgated an ordinance aimed at combating the ever-expanding spiral
of underworld crime. That was the era when the rich and the powerful
cowered in dread of extortionists brazenly threatening them on the
phone, and then walking into their offices, shops and homes to collect
ransoms. Many of those who refused to pay were attacked, even killed.
The defining moment came when movie producer Gulshan Kumar was gunned
down in broad daylight in 1997. Anyone was game. Already,
middle-of-the-street gun battles in Mumbai were spilling blood of rival
gangs belonging to absconding dons such as Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota
Rajan. About 20 people were killed in mafia violence in 1997. The
number more than doubled next year. Yet newer mafia dons were breaking
out on the scene, like an expanding family tree. In desperation, the
government unofficially adopted the extra-constitutional method of
summarily executing suspected gangsters by police inspectors, in what
has come to be known as 'encounters'. But even this regressed, perhaps
predictably, into anarchy, as it was alleged that rival gangs began to
pay off these 'encounter specialists' to kill each other's boys.
Politically, the burgeoning crime graph became a headache for the state
government of BJP-Shiv Sena. The public outcry against its failure to
curb the mafia threatened to extend all the way to the Assembly
elections of 1999. It was in these circumstances that the Maharashtra
Control of Organised Crime Ordinance was brought into existence. The
government argued that the Indian Penal Code, written in 1860, was
incapable of dealing with the mafia crimes, never as brutal in history
as now. Later, the state Assembly legislated it into law. Replacing
'Ordinance' with 'Act', the law came to be known by its acronym, MCOCA,
popularly pronounced 'Makoka' or even 'Moka'. The Act said it aimed "to
make Special provisions for Prevention and Control of Organised Crime
and for coping with Criminal Activity by Organized Crime Syndicates…"

A
Statement of Objects and Reasons issued with the law gave the following
rationale for its enactment: "Organised crime has for quite some years
now come up as a very serious threat to our society. It knows no
national boundaries and is fueled by illegal wealth generated by
contract killing, extortion, smuggling in contrabands, illegal trade in
narcotics, kidnappings for ransom, collection of protection money and
money laundering, etc. "The illegal wealth and black money generated by
the organised crime being very huge, it has had [a] serious adverse
effect on our economy. It was seen that the organised criminal
syndicates made a common cause with terrorist gangs and foster (sic)
terrorism which extend beyond the national boundaries. There was reason
to believe that organised criminal gangs have been operating in the
State and, thus, there was immediate need to curb their activities.
"The existing legal framework, i.e., the penal and procedural laws and
the adjudicatory system were found to be rather inadequate to curb or
control the menace of organised crime. Government, therefore, decided
to enact a special law with stringent and deterrent provisions." For
all the grandstanding in the legalese above, the key phrase is
obviously "stringent and deterrent provisions". Just what were these
provisions of MCOCA and how has been the experience of the law over the
last nearly 11 years? Of course, the state argues that MCOCA has
brought rich dividends. After all, street-side bloodbaths are a thing
of the past. At least the reporting of extortions has declined
dramatically. Shooters don't so often storm into people's homes and
offices. Mumbai Police inspectors do not go killing gangsters in
'encounters'. But few outside the precincts of south Mumbai's sessions
courts, where four special judges toil exclusively over MCOCA cases,
know how this law has devastated lives and families because of what
clearly appears to be its misuse, if not outright abuse. And
unfortunately, it's the "stringent and deterrent provisions" of the
MCOCA that have wholly abetted such abuse.

HAVING EXAMINED
about 100 cases over two months, in this issue of TEHELKA we bring you
the bizarre stories of eight accused, seven of whom lived out the
nightmare of MCOCA spending sleepless nights on their jail beds, only
to be freed after months or years because, simply, there was no
evidence against them. These have included the mighty, such as former
Mumbai Police Commissioner RS Sharma - no less. Even the Supreme Court
said Sharma seemed to have been wrongly accused. Indeed, the law has
proved to be a black hole for hundreds of the accused. Once charged
under MCOCA, an accused is presumed guilty until he proves his
innocence. It is sweeping in its scope, because under it the
prosecution need offer no evidence beyond the confession of the accused
to secure his conviction. Even if a judge eventually throws out such a
confession, the accused has spent months to years behind bars because
securing bail is next to impossible. The admissibility of a confession
as evidence, given by an accused to a police officer above the rank of
the Superintendent of Police or Deputy Commissioner of Police, is the
most prominent - and controversial - provision in MCOCA. It is a
howler, because it was exactly this provision that was massively
misused to frame innocent people in previous anti-terror laws such as
the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA) of 1987
and the Prevention of Terrorist Act (POTA) of 2002. For this reason
alone, TADAwas allowed to lapse in 1995. POTA was scrapped altogether
in 2004. Indeed, MCOCA is more draconian than POTA. POTA allowed
confessions to be admissible as evidence against only the confessor.
But under MCOCA, the confession of an accused "shall be admissible in
the trial of such person or co-accused, abettor or conspirator". This
clause alone has had hellish consequences for hundreds accused under
MCOCA. People have languished in jail merely because someone accused in
the same case had allegedly named them in his or her confession. Human
rights campaigners have long argued that because the Indian Evidence
Act of 1872 bars confessions made to the police from being admissible
as evidence, laws such as MCOCA should not be allowed to use such
confessions. It is widely known that the police routinely use torture
to force confessions. Many accused under MCOCA have reported this to
the judge, who has then disallowed their confessions. Of course, on the
face of it, the law prescribes safeguards to ensure confessions are not
made under duress. "Confessions shall be recorded in a free atmosphere
in the same language in which the person is examined and as narrated by
him," the law says. "The police officer shall explain to the person
making it that he's not bound to make a confession." The police officer
who has written down the confession of an accused must then send it to
a Chief Judicial Magistrate, who, too, must meet the confessor within
24 hours and crosscheck if he made the confession voluntarily. So often
the accused have told such a magistrate that he was either not shown
the document he signed, or coerced into signing it, or that his
signatures were taken on blank papers.

ANOTHER DAUNTING aspect of
MCOCA is its stringent bail provisions. The law says bail can be given
to an accused only if the court "is satisfied that there are reasonable
grounds for believing he is not guilty of such offence…" This is
staggering. Essentially, this means that regardless of the mildness of
an alleged crime, the accused cannot get bail until either a
chargesheet is filed, the trial has ended, or it is obvious that the
accused has been framed. Defence lawyers say that in 11 years of the
law's operation, not even one percent of the accused have been given
bail by the trial court. Many have even been turned down by the High
Court. Many, such as RS Sharma, former Mumbai Police Commissioner, have
had to go up to the Supreme Court to secure bail after months or years
in jail. In fact, this bail provision seems to have irked the Supreme
Court in the case of Sharma. Wrote the apex court: "We are furthermore
of the opinion that the restrictions on the power of the Court to grant
bail should not be pushed too far." But the court has been pushed too
far for nearly 11 years. The police in Maharashtra arrest people at
will under MCOCA knowing full well that it is highly unlikely they will
get bail anytime soon. Hence, the police don't care to ensure that
their cases against the accused meet the law's other requirements. For
example, MCOCA stipulates that only those accused of being members of
an "organised crime syndicate" and who are part of "continuing unlawful
activity" can be tried under it. There have been bizarre cases where
the police claimed that a family of 11 people accused of a double
murder was a "criminal gang", just so they could be booked under MCOCA,
and thus denied bail. The law also explains what constitutes
"continuing unlawful activity". People can only be charged under MCOCA
if there are at least two chargesheets against them for a crime of
similar nature in the previous 10 years. It is mandatory for courts to
take cognisance of these two chargesheets. But in case after case we
found the police had charged people under MCOCA even though there were
no previous chargesheets against them. The story of property magnate
Mahendra Agarwal is just one such case. In most of these cases, the
accused had to languish in jail without bail until they were finally
acquitted years later.

Another clearly stipulated feature of the
law is the motive of the accused. MCOCA says that those accused under
it must have undertaken the alleged crime "with the objective of
gaining pecuniary benefits, or undue economic or other advantages for
himself or any other person or promoting insurgency." The reference to
"pecuniary benefit" is crucial, as the gangs that this law sought to
control were obviously working on the principle of making money
illegally through, among other means, extortions and money laundering.
The framers of the law included this principle so that it was not
misused to book those who might have committed a violent crime but not
for monetary gain and should, therefore, be tried under the IPC. And
yet, in numerous MCOCA cases, the prosecution did not even bother to
suggest that the accused had a "pecuniary benefit". It may surprise the
reader to know that in a large number of cases the judge eventually set
the accused free, or ordered their trial under IPC, on the ground that
the prosecution had failed to establish that the alleged crime was
committed for "pecuniary benefit". But the accused had to serve time in
jail without bail till such judgement was passed. Clearly, the Mumbai
Police have used this law, often indiscriminately, only to put people
behind bars and keep them there as long as possible. Mumbai Police
Commissioner D Sivanandan virtually concedes this attitude when he says
in an interview that the number of people jailed shot up from 50 in
1998 to 642 in 1999 after MCOCA was written. Many people — including
defence lawyers and certainly many of the former accused who were later
ruled innocent — have therefore begun to demand that this draconian law
must include a more stringent system of checks and balances. The most
recurring suggestion is that the police must be made accountable.
Radically, the suggestion goes, the policemen who framed the accused,
must go to jail themselves. Many, of course, would say, why limit that
to MCOCA?

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=Ne160110coverstory.asp

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Walk to freedom - Editorial (Jan 19, 2010, The Tribune)

Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily's communication to all chief
justices of high courts to take measures by July 31 to obtain the
release of 1.25 lakh undertrials languishing in various jails in the
country for petty offences is welcome. If his advice is implemented in
toto, it will not only provide justifiable relief to many undertrials
but also ease congestion in the jails. Of the 3.5 lakh prisoners in the
country's 1500 jails today, 2.45 lakh are undertrials. Surprisingly,
1.7 lakh of them, booked for petty offences, have already undergone the
maximum punishment they would have got if convicted or served most of
their sentence. Clearly, keeping them in jail without trial is not only
unjustified but also a violation of their constitutional right to life
and liberty.

Significantly, Mr Moily, in his communication, has
suggested various methods by which the undertrials could be released
within six months. These include the introduction of plea bargaining
and holding day-to-day trial in the jail premises and
video-conferencing. There is a need to introduce plea bargaining in all
the states because of its advantages. Under this system, the undertrial
accepts guilt and the court records conviction and releases him/her by
sentencing him/her to the period of imprisonment already undergone.

Unfortunately,
though these measures were proposed earlier, the authorities concerned
have done little to implement them. The result: the number of
undertrials has been increasing with no hope of freedom in the already
packed jails. A few years back, former Chief Justice of India Justice
A.S. Anand had ruled that special courts must be set up in all district
jails so that the prisoners involved in petty offences and willing to
confess could be tried expeditiously.

Why has this order not
been implemented? Overcrowding has led to many problems including lack
of basic amenities and sanitation. There is a need to ease congestion
in jails by implementing various alternatives to imprisonment like
making certain offences bailable under the IPC and the Cr PC, releasing
undertrials on probation and increasing the number of judges and
magistrates in reasonable proportion to the general population.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100119/edit.htm#2

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Imagining Citizenship: Being Muslim, Becoming
Citizens in Ahmedabad - By Meenakshi Thapan (Jan 16, 2010, Economic and
Pol. Weekly)

The focus of this article is on understanding how some selected
schools for children from the Muslim community in Ahmedabad seek to
recover and establish their identity through their pursuit of
citizenship ideals. Such schools undoubtedly exist in an atmosphere of
exclusion and marginalisation and seem to understand that in order to
be accepted by the majority community, there would have to be a change
in being Muslims in particular ways. Citizenship education is therefore
constructed and articulated in the language of acceptance: to have good
manners, express perfect behaviour, be neatly dressed, control
emotions, especially anger, and be committed to religion but within the
parameters set by the dominant community. In this manner, the more
recently established schools have apparently internalised the
civilising mission of the Hindu right in order to gain acceptability
and integration with the dominant community. However, in older,
well-established schools, there is a critique of the state and of the
breakdown of Hindu-Muslim relations that has resulted in the prevalent
ghettoisation in different residential pockets of Ahmedabad. In such
schools, we may argue, therefore that the sense of being citizens rests
more on prevailing ideas about "good" and "ideal" qualities that may be
conservative but are not suggestive of succumbing to the dominant
culture. In remembering the horrific events of 2002 in Gujarat, we must
acknowledge the efforts of a community to pick up pieces of their lives
in pursuit of a future that seeks social acceptance and gainful
employment, among other things. It is to the credit of members of this
community that they have not given themselves up to victimhood and
despair and abandoned hope for the future. Repeatedly, the media in
Ahmedabad reports the inability of Muslim students to gain admission to
Hindu schools, about the lack of opportunity for employment, about the
denial of entry to housing that is not divided along religion. Such
forms of inequality are further exacerbated by poverty and poorer
members of the community are completely excluded, from even the middle
class Muslim housing societies that have mushroomed in the Muslim
ghettos of Ahmedabad.

The process of ghettoisation in Ahmedabad
has a long and tortuous history beginning with the first Hindu-Muslim
riots of 1969 until the pogrom of 2002 in which more than 3,000 Muslims
lost their lives. The anti-reservation agitations in 1981 and 1985
resulted in further riots which slowly gained a communal slant.
Advani's rath yatra in the 1990s added to the fear and lack of trust
between communities and to this were added divisions along caste lines:
In 1985, only one high wall came up between a Patidar and a Muslim
neighbourhood in the old city of Ahmedabad; by the end of 1990 the
residents of almost all dalit chawls in the industrial areas had
erected high walls around them (Sheth and Haeems 2006: 1709). In 2002,
there is a further divide emerging from fear and distrust. Rajdeep
Sardesai records, …a number of families from both communities moved out
to "safer" areas, safety being defined by their desire to stay with
their co-religionists. Invisible "borders" have been drawn with clear
rules of engagement: members of either community will not cross into
the other's territory unless absolutely necessary (Sardesai 2008).
Political and fundamentalist forces, namely, the Hindu right, have
largely been responsible for abetting this communal divide. Muslims,
who had been until then living in mixed neighbourhoods with Hindus,
moved out to Muslim-dominated areas. In 2002, in the most violent,
brutal and ghastly attacks on the Muslims, there was complete break of
trust and the process of ghettoisation, therefore, came full circle. In
addition, there is the exclusion and ghettoisation of the dalit and
other low caste communities which is perhaps overlooked in view of the
severity of the religious divides.1 It is against this rather grim and
distressing background that this study focuses on three secondary
schools in Ahmedabad. In the following vignettes, an attempt is made to
foreground the forces that shape the development of citizenship
education in particular schools and the ways in which these are
articulated and experienced by participants in schooling processes.

School
A, an English medium private school, is located in Danilimda which is
adjacent to the Shah Alam area which is dominated by the minority
Muslim community. However, in Danilimda, there are apartments named
Ravindra Park, Sridevi Park which point to the fact that at one time
there was a substantial Hindu population in the area. Due to the
communal riots, since 1992, the Muslim population from other areas has
started migrating into Shah Alam making it spread out to Danilimda
which is an adjacent locality. The growing population of Muslims in
this area led to the outmigration of the Hindus and finally Danilimda
became a Muslim-dominated area. There is another dimension to this
process of ghettoisation. Due to the anti-reservation riots of 1981-85,
there was tension between upper caste Hindus and dalits and other lower
castes in the area. Upper caste Hindus no longer wanted to stay among
Muslims and other lower castes, so it was only upper caste Hindus who
migrated out. As a result, the percentage of students belonging to the
Muslim minority population has increased in School A. Due to this
process of ghettoisation, there are incidents of communal disturbances
even today as a result of rivalries that stem from the celebration of
religious festivals such as Diwali. There are other social problems
including those related to the education of the community. This is
evident from the recent controversy regarding the residents' demand for
starting a municipal school as there is not a single municipal school
in the area, and especially after 2002, Muslim children do not gain
admission in other good schools in the city.2 This was also reported by
members of the management of different Muslim schools and points to the
urgent requirement for the school in the area as well as to the larger
question of the condition of education for the children of the minority
community. Against this background, the principal aim of the management
of this school is to improve the existing condition of education for
Muslim children.

The president of the trust is a wealthy
businessman in the construction business. At the time of 2002 riots, he
claims that, he (with the help of a few friends) established the Shah
Alam relief camp. At that time, the trust did not exist. It was at the
suggestion of his friends and his own initiative and with a little help
from the government, they started a charitable trust in his father's
name. One of the major aims of the trust that runs this school since
2004 is to improve the educational condition of the children of a
minority population. They found that the minorities are backward and
vulnerable, especially in terms of education. The only municipal
school, where mostly Muslim children study, is in very poor condition,
as there are 150 children in one class, and there are no toilets or any
other facilities such as furniture, or other infrastructure. We find
that on the one hand, a Muslim businessman (the president of the trust)
has an image of being involved in philanthropic work through the
establishment of this school and doing other charitable work including
organising and holding health camps for the poor. On the other hand, a
negative image prevails, for example, people representing Hindu
communal forces like the Bajrang Dal believe that the trust is trying
to introduce the "Pakistani" system of education through various
practices such as having half-day school on Fridays and also having a
vacation for Ramazan.3 There is complete lack of trust among both
communities and an inability on the part of Hindu right wing groups to
empathise with and seek to change the situation for young Muslim
children who need to, and want to, be in school. The school under study
is affiliated to the Gujarat Education Board and mainly uses the
textbooks of the Gujarat Board. They have also received a yearly
calendar from the Gujarat Education Board which the school is obliged
to follow. Apart from the holiday schedule, which does not include a
schedule for Ramazan, it is not clear to what extent this calendar was
being observed in this school. The culture of discipline is not just
limited to the students and the teachers also adhere to a strict dress
code. The Hindu teachers wear a dupatta and the male teachers have a
uniform as well. It is mandatory for all Muslim female teachers to wear
burkhas. They cover their heads with a scarf and wear a long skirt
which covers the whole body but their faces are open and they have
lively countenances, and communicate easily with both male and female
children.

The teachers are indistinguishable on the basis of
religion except through their names (mostly Muslim) and all (both men
and women) are well-qualified (with postgraduate degrees, some with
diplomas in education), rather young, amiable, gentle, with a very easy
manner of relating to children. Even while scolding children on the
sports ground for being out of line or improperly dressed, there was an
ease and gentleness in their manner towards children. The identity of
being a Muslim school is distinctly presented when the administrator of
the school says: "it is perhaps the only school in Hindustan that gives
vacation for Ramazan". Certain "rules" of discipline vis-a-vis
religious practice are drawn from the religion, and at the same time,
there is an attempt to overcome an uneasiness attached to certain
aspects of this religious identity through an exaggerated emphasis on
developing "good manners". In other words, embodied forms of discipline
implicated in the teachers' uniform are certainly drawn from the Muslim
identity which also tend to show an assertion made in terms of being
Muslim. At the same time, the overall philosophy that emphasises "good
manners" is rooted in an attempt to overcome this identity
characterised by the popular construction of Muslims as barbaric and
aggressive. This simultaneous assertion of identity and turning away
from how the community is commonly perceived reflects the complexities
and conflicts at the heart of the Muslims' experience of identity in
ghettoised Ahmedabad: independent and fearless, conservative and loyal
to religious discourse, rejecting aspects of identity that emphasise
aggression and barbarism. The internalisation of these ideals that are
sought to be pursued by school management and teachers is, however, in
question as students are not passive recipients of citizenship
education and always seek to modify it according to their
understandings, depending on social class, family and community and
peer group cultures. The principal of the school (a professionally
well-qualified woman) expressed the need and the importance of
inculcating the values that express good behaviour, discipline and good
manners in Muslim children. She told us that in this school, there are
children from different economic backgrounds and this is possible in
Islam, i e, for students from different socio-economic backgrounds to
study together in the same institution. She said, being a converted
Muslim from Hinduism, she has experienced both the religions and "seen
the separatism in Hindu religion which is certainly not here". One of
the major aims of the school is "brotherhood" she said, and added,
"though Islam teaches brotherhood, Muslims are very aggressive" and
that "they are very emotional". On the other hand, she told us, "Hindus
think and work". However, after receiving education, Muslims are being
"awakened" and education is therefore very important. One of her aims
is to give education to this community and teach them to think and work
and develop what she called "sophisticated personalities". … The
outcome is fear for an uncertain future. The possibilities for change
lie in students' voices, and in their resistance, that offer the only
hope for a movement away from fixed notions of citizenship education
and of what it means to be a Muslim in contemporary India.

http://epw.in/epw/uploads/articles/14357.pdf

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Why not to lose your cool - By Coomi Kapoor (Jan 14, 2010, Indian Express)

Deve Gowda's expletive-laden diatribe against Karnataka Chief
Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa set a new low in political discourse. While
our politicians do indulge in "tu-tu mein mein" abuse in public,
usually it is the foot soldiers who do the name calling. But in this
case it was a former prime minister who used language which would make
a sailor blush. The B-word was uttered more than once, with Gowda
accusing Yeddyurappa of even being ready to "eat footwear for money".
Gowda also crossed another line by raking up the name of a former lady
minister close to the chief minister, in a bid to embarrass him. The
issue that incensed Gowda was land acquisition by the Nandi
Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE). It was similarly over land
acquisition that Deve Gowda's son H.D. Kumaraswamy had walked out of a
coalition government with the Congress some years back. Gowda, however,
maintains he reacted strongly to the "agony of the farmers". NICE wants
to acquire land for the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor at a
price which the farmers feel is too low. Of course, his rivals claim
that he lost his cool because it pinched his own pocket.

Gowda's
outburst highlights the deterioration of public discourse in the
country. The growing tendency to vilify rival parties and paint them
beyond the pale has made civilised debate between rival politicians
almost impossible. Reaching an understanding even on issues on which
opposing sides hold a common view - for instance, the pension
regulatory act or the Indo-US nuclear deal in the last Parliament -
becomes difficult in a vitiated atmosphere, where each side regards the
other as untouchable. The unhealthy and unnecessary antagonism between
political parties is reflected in the slipping standards of debate in
Parliament. Scoring debating points laced with humorous exchanges and
quick repartee was the norm in Parliament in the early years of the
Republic, where differences in views made for spirited discussions
without malice and ill-will. MPs were ready to appreciate the good
points of the other side, for instance, Pandit Nehru as prime minister
was one of the first to recognise the promise of the new Jana Sangh MP
A.B.

Vajpayee. Nowadays MPs try to win the argument by sheer
lung power, jumping into the well of the House or, at times, getting
physical - as Amar Singh did in the last Lok Sabha session, pouncing on
S.S. Ahluwalia. While May's Parliamentary Code prohibits abusive
language in Parliament, in the open political arena there is no such
restraining order. George Orwell once pointed out political speeches
are written largely to defend the indefensible so the terms of
engagement can get pretty nasty. During election time, even seasoned
politicians get carried away and their attacks become personalised.
L.K. Advani stumbled badly in the last Lok Sabha polls by describing
the prime minister as "useless" (nikamma) and the "weakest prime
minister". Neither remark went down well with the electorate. Indeed,
experience shows that the public does not approve of name-calling. When
Indira Gandhi remarked angrily in an election rally in 1977 that her
opponents could "go to hell" ("Jahannam mein jana") her audience was
disapproving. When Rajiv Gandhi used the crude phrase "naani yaad kar
doonga" it was perceived as being in bad taste.

The late Pramod
Mahajan often got into hot water for his smart-alec metaphors. When
George Fernandes, while campaigning in Bellary, said that Sonia
Gandhi's only claim to fame was that she married Rajiv Gandhi and gave
birth to two children, he was accused of mocking motherhood. Ghulam
Nabi Azad's comment wondering how Vajpayee, a bachelor, could have a
son-in-law, was not well received. Sonia Gandhi's description of
Narendra Modi as a "merchant of death" (maut ka saudagar) backfired in
Modi's favour. Another comment by Sonia, in a speech in Assam, that
Vajpayee, then prime minister, had lost his mental balance, was
considered beyond the pale. So was Modi's joke comparing Sonia to a
Jersey cow and her son Rahul Gandhi to a hybrid calf. Gowda, who has
now to contend with angry protests by BJP supporters throughout the
state, must surely be ruing his ill-chosen words. While withdrawing his
expletives and tendering an apology, he claims in his defence a
lifetime in public life where he never uttered a word of abuse
previously.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/567185/

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Deemed not to be - Editorial (Jan 20, 2010, Indian Express)

Even if you haven't visited five-room deemed universities or read
glossy college catalogues in fiction, here are statistics that say all.
In the 35 years between 1956 and 1990, only 29 institutions were
"deemed-to-be universities" by the Central government. In comparison,
in the last five years, as many as 36 institutions have been granted
this status. The spate of hasty approvals sparked accusations that
Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal sought to address
last year, when he ordered a review of all deemed-to-be universities.
When this three-member review committee recommended 44 deemed-to-be
universities for derecognition, the writing was on the wall. The
Centre's affidavit to the Supreme Court on Monday, accepting that
recommendation, is both welcome and necessary.

Looking forward,
the immediate concern is about the estimated two lakh students who will
be affected by this step. In its affidavit, the Centre states that
these below par institutions can continue as "affiliated colleges" to a
state university, so that students can complete ongoing courses and
exit with a degree. The HRD minister has also assured that no student
will suffer. The "task force" preparing a plan to "safeguard" these
students must be careful not to punish them for the follies of others.
The other concern is for action on those responsible for this impasse.
Who in the UGC and the HRD ministry gave the approvals that are now
shown to be faulty, with stipulations clearly not followed? It is
important that a thorough inquiry names the guilty and that they are
punished.

Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act
permits the Centre to grant "deemed-to-be university" status for
educational institutions on the recommendation of the UGC. The Centre's
decision to derecognise will hopefully result in the sparing use of
this section. But to prevent its use altogether might be
self-defeating. The original purpose of this provision was to reward
well-performing colleges with the autonomy that university status
brings. Top-class deemed universities like Birla Institute of
Technology and Science, Pilani or Tata Institute of Social Sciences,
Mumbai must be distinguished from more recent fly-by-night operators.
It is hoped that the Centre accompanies this bold decision with a
comprehensive overhaul.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/569387/

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